"Sam, I'm scared," whimpered Cat.
"Me too," she replied warily, with an unplugged lamp in hand for protection as she made her way slowly through the bedroom door, Cat trailing oh-so-close behind.
Thunder rumbled softly overhead as Sam got to her hands an knees and checked under her bed. If Cat were anyone else, Sam would have lied and acted tough, like nothing ever affected her. With Cat however... Sam couldn't lie to Cat. Not even about being scared of a movie from nearly 20 years ago. A movie that she'd seen before, countless times. I shouldn't be this scared of a stupid movie, she thought to herself as she scanned the tiny space for any tiny murderers that could be lurking in the shadows. I need to look after Cat. I need to be strong for her, and I need her to feel safe when she's with me. That's what... friends do, right?
"Right... Man, I can't believe this storm knocked out the power. I mean, we didn't even get to see that bit of the movie where Freddie Krueger total-"
"Sam! Don't. Please," Cat begged. "I'm so scared."
"Aw, kid..." Sam gave Cat a smile and her hand a quick squeeze before she scanned the room again, quickly, before pulling her friend down to the ground to help check under the other bed.
"All I see is dust bunnies," Cat whispered before muffling a sneeze with her hands. The two girls got up as another low rumble went by. Sam smiled to herself. Only Cat could look so cute doing normally un-cute things. God knows I look like an elephant when I sneeze. She thought back to when they were having lunch at Bots the week before, when Cat had let out the gnarliest burp Sam had ever heard. The poor girl immediately whipped her hands up to her pink lips, frozen, eyes wide with shock. Sam nearly died at the adorableness.
"Oh!" Sam snapped back to reality as Cat grabbed her by the arms. "Can you check the bathroom? What if I have to pee? What if there's someone in there when I go? Sam?! You know I don't like peeing around other people or being murdered in the bathroom!" She held her hands up in surrender as Cat started shaking her in her increasing panic.
"Alright, alright!" Peeling Cat's hands off her arms, she slowly peered through the doorway. She flinched as she pulled back the shower curtain, revealing nothing. The two girls sighed with relief.
"All clear, m'lady. Are we ready to go to sleep now? If you want, you can sleep wi-"
"No!"
Damn, so close. Sam felt as though she'd never get to end this spook hunt, let alone end it with Cat curled up in bed next to her, still terrified of what could lurk in the shadowy abyss that was 'outside the covers'.
"Sam, don't you know anything about monsters?!" Cat was whispering so loudly that surely any 'monster' within a 3-mile radius could hear her. "Everyone knows that the place monsters like to hide most is in someone's closet! Didn't you ever see Monsters, Inc.?"
Sam groaned. "Okay... wait here."
Sam was getting sick of this. All she wanted to do was finish watching the movie and have Cat squeeze her eyes shut and cuddle up against her while the scary scenes played. Sam would reciprocate, pulling her roommate in closer, one arm hugging her tighter (the other no doubt submerged in a bowl of popcorn), as if their awkward embrace was the only thing protecting them from the evil that their imaginations told them would jump from the tv and into their apartment.
Tentatively, she walked over to the closet and opened the door. Still a little on edge and bracing herself for any kind of outcome, she stepped inside to find nothing but the clothes that were in there earlier that evening. And a turkey leg. Oh, so that's where I lef–
CRACK. Cat yelped at the intense clap of thunder, and as Sam turned around, she found herself being tackled to the floor by an absolutely terrified Valentine. I thought this was October, not February, she mused to herself.
"Ow, jeez. You're literally on me," Sam stated as she tried to squirm out from underneath Cat. Being this close and in this position wasn't something Sam was ready to deal with.
"Oh, Sam, are you okay? I didn't mean to hurt you," the red-head apologised as she clambered off and kicked the door shut. Sam mumbled some sort of forgiving response as she sat up, rubbing her thigh where Cat's knee had slammed into.
After a moment of adjusting to the darkness, Cat spoke up.
"Hey... Do you think we could sleep in here tonight?"
"What?"
"I mean, there's a door and windows in there... weird scary murderers could come in through so many entr-"
"You mean I checked our entire apartment for nothing?"
"No, I mean...
"What do you mean?" Sam was getting heated.
"I mean, I'd feel safer in here... with you." Cat fumbled for Sam's hand in the dark.
"...Oh."
The two sat beside one another in silence – hands together, fingers slowly intertwining. Sam could still tell that Cat was terrified of what was outside, even thought it was really nothing. She didn't know why, but she couldn't look at Cat right now. Her heart was beating faster than usual. Just holding hands was enough to make her feel guilty about the feelings she had for her sweet, kind, beautiful, lovely, perfe–
Sam blushed as she shook the rest of the long line of Cat-babble from her mind. Why me? Why her? Why anything? It wasn't fair for her to feel this way – she was the badass known as Sam "Motherfucking" Puckett, after all – and it wasn't fair having to live in this apartment with Cat and have these feelings about her. She didn't want to force them upon Cat either, knowing that there was a massive chance that Cat wouldn't feel the same way – that her flirty behaviour was just something she did around everyone.
Cat inched closer and turned to face Sam. Sam took in a deep breath.
"You know, well, I know I say this a lot, but I'm really glad you're here. I'm really glad we're friends."
"Me too," Sam sighed. And that's all we'll ever be... As she turned her face towards Cat, Cat tried moving hers further into the crook of Sam's neck. Their mouths touched briefly. Sam turned her head back the other way faster than she would if she heard the words "free burritos" shouted in the distance. She couldn't deal with this. It was too much. She needed to get out of that tiny room and get some air.
As Sam turned to apologise to Cat and leave, she found herself silenced by a pair of soft, pink lips. Dumbfounded, she just hung there, almost in suspended animation before Cat pulled away.
"Sorry, it just... seemed like a good time." She giggled nervously. Sam was still sitting there trying to process what just happened.
"D-did you just...?"
The two stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity. Cat was beginning to look hurt the longer they sat. She was still holding Sam's hands in her lap, and Sam couldn't bring herself to let go. She felt as though their separation at this moment would be the catalyst to all those monsters that she'd been running from – not just tonight, but since she moved in with Cat – to come out and destroy everything she'd ever worked and hoped for in life.
Cat broke the silence with another giggle, shifting her grip on Sam's hands as she did so, reforming that charming little smile she was known for. Sam took this as her cue, and without hesitation, she veered forward, gently pushing Cat to the carpet and kissed her with all the passion she'd been bottling inside for so long.
Zzzzzt.
Sam had been drifting in and out of sleep for a while now. Usually, she was a good sleeper and could sleep through anything. She'd slept through her mother's drunken screaming matches with the TV countless times.
Zzzzzt... Zzzzzt... Zzzzzt... Zzzzzt... Zzzzzt... Zzzzzt... Zzzzzt... Zzzzzt... Zzzzzt...
What the hell is that? She opened her eyes. Cat was still asleep, clinging to her arm with a soft smile on her face. Memories of last night flooded back to Sam. Her hands on Cat's waist. Cat's lips pressing against hers, so gingerly... so softly.
She sat there for a while, recalling the look on Cat's face as they kissed for the first time; recalling her smell, her taste, her touch.
Zzzzzt.
Seriously, what is that? Sam looked down to see PearPhone's screen light up from the floor. Picking it up, she noticed several texts and 4 missed calls from some girl named Jade. The most recent text popups read:
"Seriously, who was your tweet on The Slap about last night?"
"TELL ME. Or don't. I don't care. And don't let the amount of messages I've left fool you."
Jesus Christ. Curious, Sam opened The Slap app on Cat's phone and clicked on her profile. She felt bad for going into it via Cat's phone, but she'd left hers somewhere in the kitchen. Possibly in the fridge. Also, she didn't have the app.
Cat Valentine:
:)
Feeling: Smitten (´∀｀).。ｏ